was information from Fort Miami of a plot for the capture of the forts and the slaughter of the garrisons.  A war-belt was received by the Indians residing near the fort, and with it came the request that they should hold themselves in readiness to attack the British.  Robert Holmes, the commandant of Fort Miami, managed to secure the ’bloody belt’ and sent it to Gladwyn, [Footnote:  Gladwyn’s illness in 1761 proved so severe that he had to take a journey to England to recuperate; but he was back in Detroit as commandant in August 1762.] who in turn sent it to Amherst.

News had now reached the Ohio tribes of the Treaty of Paris, but the terms of this treaty had only increased their unrest.  On April 30, 1763, Croghan wrote to Amherst that the Indians were ’uneasy since so much of North America was ceded to Great Britain,’ holding that the British had no right in their country.  ‘The Peace,’ added Croghan, ’and hearing so much of this country being given up has thrown them into confusion and prevented them bringing in their prisoners this spring as they promised.’  Amherst’s reply was:  ’Whatever idle notions they may entertain in regard to the cessions made by the French crown can be of very little consequence.’  On April 20 Gladwyn, though slow to see danger, wrote to Amherst:  ’They [the Indians] say we mean to make Slaves of them by Taking so many posts in the country, and that they had better attempt Something now to Recover their liberty than wait till we are better established.’  Even when word that the Indians were actually on the war-path reached Amherst, he still refused to believe it a serious matter, and delayed making preparations to meet the situation.  It was, according to him, a ’rash attempt of that turbulent tribe the Senecas’; and, again, he was ’persuaded this alarm will end in nothing more than a rash attempt of what the Senecas have been threatening.’  Eight British forts in the west were captured and the frontiers of the colonies bathed in blood before he realized that ’the affair of the Indians was more general than they apprehended.’

The Indians were only waiting for a sudden, bold blow at some one of the British posts, and on the instant they would be on the war-path from the shores of Lake Superior to the borders of the southernmost colonies of Great Britain.  The blow was soon to be struck.  Pontiac’s war-belts had been sent broadcast, and the nations who recognized him as over-chief were ready to follow him to the slaughter.  Detroit was the strongest position to the west of Niagara; it contained an abundance of stores, and would be a rich prize.  As Pontiac yearly visited this place during the trading season, he knew the locality well and was familiar with the settlers, the majority of whom were far from being friendly to the British.  Against Detroit he would lead the warriors, under the pretence of winning back the country for the French.